The Sorcerer's Guide

  Walt and Lillian Disney celebrated their 30 th   wedding anniversary on July 13, 1955. Though Walt was spending hours preparing his park for opening day, Disney wanted to spend his anniversary at the park he had dreamed of building for so many years. With 300 guests in tow, the party took the maiden voyage of the Mark Twain Riverboat and enjoyed the unofficial first show in the Golden Horseshoe. Like most parties, there was a lot going on to prepare for that night. Admiral Joe Fowler, the man Disney put in charge of building the Mark Twain, was a little nervous. The ship had never gone around Tom Sawyer Island and Fowler later admitted that he had nightmares the night before that the river would dry up again like it had just a few weeks earlier. With an hour left until guests would start arriving, Fowler arrived to make sure everything was in working order. He was surprised to find Lillian Disney, broom in hand, sweeping the deck. With her help, the ship was ready to go when...

Holidayland was on the west side of Disneyland – about where New Orleans Square is today – from June of 1957 to September of 1963. The area had its own admission gate and was fenced off from Disneyland. It was close enough that you could hear the sounds of the Mark Twain as it floated down the Rivers of America. It wasn’t a theme park: but it was a park! Like most Disney attractions, there were several variations of the idea. It was one of the ideas dreamed up before Disneyland opened in 1955. Holidayland concepts morphed, at times being planned as a large area for group events, and at others as a small picnic area attached to Disneyland. © disneyhistoryinstitute.com So what could you do at Disneyland’s first “second gate” (I think I can call it that…) when it finally opened? There was baseball, volleyball, horseshoes, picnic areas, food service (including bottomless beer…), grassy areas, and playgrounds for the kids. The playgrounds were lightly themed to mirror the attractions insid...